'Welcoming Winter Walk': Be among the first public visitors to the Pomeroy McMichael's Creek Nature Preserve

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Join the "Welcoming Winter Walk" on the new Pomeroy McMichael's Creek Nature Preserve along the McMichaels Creek, the next in the series of Pocono Heritage Land Trust naturalist-guided walks.

The hike — if weather and safe footing permit — will be on the distinctive side slope ledges of this new nature preserve, which encompasses 80 acres of beautiful forested wild calcareous (limestone influenced) landscape. It will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, rain or shine. Meet at the Hickory Valley Park parking lot, 1303 Hickory Valley Road, Stroudsburg.

The terrain is level to moderate , both on and off trail. No restroom facilities are on-site, Participants must be comfortable in an outdoor setting for an extended period of time. Cold weather attire and hiking shoes are recommended.

The hike is free, but donations to the land trust's Preserves Stewardship Fund will be accepted.

Pre-registration is suggested: call the land trust at 570-424-1514.

A natural history treasure troveThe preserve is a treasure trove of interesting calciphyte plant communities, evidence of glacier and geologic influences and riparian flood plain and wild trout stream habitats. It's located on both sides of the McMichaels Creek and Hickory Valley Road from the upper boundary of Stroud Townships Glenbrook Golf Course and Hickory Valley Park Greenway to just below the Turkey Hill Road bridge to Quiet Valley.

"We look forward to sharing it with you as the first public visitors to this newest protected natural history gem in the greenway necklace of the McMichaels Creek," says the invitation.

Nestled between the high gradient freestone, glacial-influenced and forested Pocono Creek valley and the low-gradient limestone bedrock-based and agricultural-influenced Cherry Creek Valley flows the McMichaels Creek. This major tributary to the Brodhead Creek and Delaware River represents the best of both of its neighboring stream systems as a transition between the high Plateau of the Poconos and the folded ridge valleys of the Appalachian Blue Ridge. Ecologists have long recognized that often the most productive and interesting habitats for wildlife and plant diversity are ecotones, edges between two distinct habitats. Just as where fields meet forests or wetlands meet dry ground, ecotones or edges (transition zones) between habitats are often very interesting paces to explore.

On a grander scale, a similarly interesting landscape transition between the Pocono Creek and Cherry Creek valleys happens in the larger “geologic ecotone” of the McMichaels Creek valley. One of the best places to see and explore this grander landscape merge is in one of these folded valleys carved by the McMichaels Creek between Stroudsburg and Saylorsburg. One of the many public access gems of this area is the Stroud Township-protected greenway of the Glenbrook area along the McMichaels Creek just outside of Stroudsburg.

A newly protected natural area between Hickory Valley and Turkey Hill that connects the Glenbrook/Hickory Valley and Turkey Hill/Quiet Valley greenway has been added to this McMichaels Creek greenway corridor. With this recent acquisition that was decades in the making, the land trust has added 80 acres of newly preserved greenway landscape to this beautiful and interesting geologic ecotone of the McMichaels Creek valley.